HOUSTON - Rice junior Lucrecia Aguilar has been announced as one of the Top 20 female semifinalists for the 2017 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award.

An Ecology and Evolutionary Biology major, Aguilar (Newton, Massachusetts) holds a 4.06 GPA is a five-time Rice University Presidents Honor Roll member. Aguilar has been named to the Conference USA Academic Honor Roll and earned a C-USA Academic Medal three times and is also a Rice University Honor Athlete.

She competed in three cross country races this past season and is currently studying abroad in Serengeti, Tanzania.

The Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Awards are sponsored by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education and established in 1992 to honor undergraduate students of color who exemplify the standards set by former tennis great Arthur Ashe Jr.

A scholar and athlete, Ashe sought to expand opportunities for young people. Each year Diverse invites every postsecondary institution in the country to participate in this awards program by nominating their outstanding sports scholars. In addition to their athletic ability, students named Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars must exhibit academic excellence as well as community activism.

To be included, students need to compete in an intercollegiate sport; maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.2; and be active on their campuses or in their communities. Approximately 1,000 male and female students from across the country were nominated.

The winners will be profiled in its April 6, 2017 edition. The finalists were chosen from over 1,000 outstanding minority student-athletes nominated by their respective institutions.